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Madison, Wisconsin (AP) — Thousands across the country march for abortion rights on Sunday, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that established federal protections against the procedure. collected.
Organizers focused on states after more than 10 states lifted restrictions and near-total bans on abortion following the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe in June.
The Women’s March website says, “We go where the fighting is going on. It’s state level.” The group is calling this year’s rally “bigger than Roe.”
A major march will be held in Wisconsin, where the next state Supreme Court election could determine the court’s balance of power and future abortion rights. Rallies were held in ten cities, and Vice President Kamala Harris delivered an impassioned speech in front of a raucous crowd.
“Can we really be free if our families can’t make intimate decisions about the course of our lives?” Harris said. “And when so-called leaders limit the rights of the American people and dare to attack the very foundations of liberty, while claiming to be the ‘forerunners of liberty,’ can we truly be free? Huh?」
In Madison, thousands of abortion rights advocates donned coats and gloves and marched through downtown to the state capitol in freezing temperatures.
“It’s just a basic human right at this point,” said Wisconsin resident Alaina Gato, who protested with her mother, Meg Wheeler, on the steps of the Capitol.
They said they plan to vote in the Supreme Court elections in April. Wheeler also said he volunteered as a polling place worker and wanted to campaign for the Democratic Party, even though he identified as an independent voter.
“It’s my daughter. I want to make sure she has the right to choose whether or not to have children,” Wheeler said.
The Madison Abortion and Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare hosted the rally with the support of over 30 other abortion rights advocates, including advocates in neighboring Illinois. Buses of protesters from Chicago and Milwaukee flooded the state capitol, holding banners and signs calling on Congress to lift the state ban.
Wisconsin cannot perform abortions because abortion clinics face legal uncertainty over whether the 1849 law banning abortions is being enforced. Laws banning abortion unless it saves the patient’s life have been challenged in court.
Some carried weapons. Lilith K., who refused to give his last name, stood alongside the protesters on the pavement with his assault rifle in hand and his tactical vest with a holstered handgun.
“With women and others losing their rights and all that’s going on with the recent shootings at Club Q and other LGBTQ nightclubs, this is just a message that we’re not going to sit through this. ‘ said Lilith.
The march also drew opposing protesters. Most people put up signs expressing their religious opposition to abortion rights. “I don’t really want to get involved in politics. I’m more interested in what the law of God says,” said John Gourke, who lives in Wisconsin.
Newly inspired anti-abortion activists increasingly set their sights on Congress with the aim of finally pushing potential nationwide abortion restrictions. Friday for the annual March for Life , tens of thousands of people flocked to Washington, DC.
Without Roe v. Wade’s federal protections, abortion rights are a patchwork state by state. In some states, authorities are working to ban abortion laws dating back to her 1800s.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Cowl, supported by Democratic Governor Tony Evers, filed an objection in June in Madison’s Dane County, arguing that the 1849 ban was too old to enforce. The two sides have exchanged briefs since, and although it’s unclear when a ruling will be handed down, the case appears to be heading to the state’s Supreme Court.
Wisconsin’s conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which has ruled in favor of Republicans for decades, is likely to hear the case. The court’s campaign is officially nonpartisan, but candidates have supported either conservatives or liberals over the years.
Women’s rallies were expected to be held in nearly every state on Sunday.
The eldest daughter of Norma McCorvey, whose legal challenge under the pseudonym “Jane Law” led to Landmark’s Law v. Wade ruling, was scheduled to attend a rally in Long Beach, California. Melissa Mills said this was her first Women’s March.
“I can’t believe we’re here again and doing what my mother did,” Mills told the Associated Press. Did.”
The Women’s March has become a regular event, interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, since it drew millions across the United States and around the world the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 .
Mr Trump has made it his presidency’s mission to appoint conservative justices. His three conservative judges he appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — all voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision.
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